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One of the best things about the annual conference of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (besides the lovely environs) is the Labor and Employment Law programming, and this year was no exception. There were three panels and a discussion group all devoted to labor and employment issues. Each one gave us lots to think about, and the level of discussion was excellent. Feel free to chime in with additional impressions (for those who were there) or questions in the comments.

Professor Kathryn Sabbeth, University of North Carolina School of Law;

Professor Steven Ware, University of Kansas School of Law;

Professor Michael Yelnosky, Roger Williams University School of Law

Twombly & Iqbal in the Workplace

Speakers: Benjamin Cooper, The University of Mississippi School of Law;

Professor Suzette Malveaux, The Catholic University of America: Columbus School of Law;

Professor Joseph Seiner, University of South Carolina School of Law;

Professor Suja Thomas, University of Illinois College of Law

I missed Thursday's panel, so I can't comment on the focus of that discussion, but if any readers were there, please chime in in the comments. Friday's summary of the Supreme Court cases focused on North American Stainless, the third-party retaliation case, Staub, the cat's paw case (and we all agreed that was a terrible analogy); Whiting, Arizona's immigration-employment law case; Wal-Mart, the gender class action, and Concepcion, the arbitration case. Not only was each case interesting on its own, but the comparison and contrasts between them were fascinating.

The arbitration discussion group had a very broad focus on how arbitration works or should work in the employment law (rather than labor) context. Discussants came from a variety of perspectives, and the discussion involving members of the audience was especially interesting. It is not clear that management or employee advocates are as interested in arbitration as they once were.

Finally, the panel on Iqbal and Twombly was very illuminating about the effects those decisions have had on employment discrimination cases. Maybe not surprisingly, employment discrimination case dismissals have risen significantly at a greater rate than other types of cases since Twiqbal, as the two Supreme Court decisions have come to be known. At the same time, the conditions may be getting riper for rule reform in the next few years to reverse those effects.